Vale Felicity and Hissy Fit

I've not talked about her before on this blog, but I want to bring your attention to Felicity (pictured) – a creamy pebbly feral cat who I had to put to sleep about a week ago. I think Felicity has lived on the farm for a number of years but I don't know how long for because she kept herself hidden. On various occasions I had caught a glimpse of her at night when I had entered one of the outdoor rooms used as a feeding station – I had put on the light and then had seen a creamy cat streak off the food bench onto the floor and then jump up onto the windowsill and through the open window to disappear into the darkness of the night. 

The first time she came into prominence was winter last year. when I noticed our two dogs had parked themselves near a shed door. When I peered around the side I saw her curled up looking dirty, straggly and miserable. She was obviously very ill and didn't want to move for fear of the dogs and me and also because she was weak. I started bringing meals and fresh water to her hiding spot and kept the dogs out of her vicinity. She was always ravenous and responded well to my ministrations. After she recovered, she emerged and joined the rest of the feral cat colony living on the hill in the cattery and became quite comfortable about being in the open in the full light of day When you constantly feed a cat, they begin to trust you and will invariably come out of hiding and adopt you.

She was an eccentric little thing with a funny manner about her but she was quite delightful and would always come running when I brought breakfast or dinner. She didn't care about fitting into the social system within the feral cat colony – she just imposed herself. 

About eight months ago I noticed some blood on her ear and thought she had got into a fight. A short time later, I noticed her belly swelling and not long after she gave birth to two kittens in the nest occupied by previous tenants mentioned in an older blog post. I left her some food. A day or two later there was no sound from the kittens and when I investigated, I found they were both dead. Felicity moved out and got on with her life again. I didn't get her desexed because I knew she probably wouldn't fall pregnant again.

As time went on, I noticed that the bloody spot on her ear was not improving – rather it was growing. Then one day when I managed to get close to her I noticed it was because her ear was actually being eaten away by skin cancer. It was invariably going to be fatal because I knew I could not catch her and get her to a vet to operate. I had also lost a white cat called Casper who I loved about 15 years ago to skin cancer. Part of his nose and ear had been surgically removed to halt the spread of the cancer but it hadn't helped. The condition came back fiercely and he eventually had to be euthanised. There was no chance I was going to catch Felicity so I knew the the progression of the cancer was inevitable.

Felicity's ear went from bad to worse until half of it was missing and part of her face was eaten away by it. One of the reasons it looked really bad was that she spread the blood from the open wound over her face when she groomed or scratched that area. Despite the fact that it looked horrible she wasn't in any pain or suffering.

Then a funny thing happened about two months ago ... she walked down from the hill towards the human house and domestic cat end of the farm whereupon she stayed.

I was quite amazed at her confidence, especially when the other cats would take one look at the mangled side of her face and flee in horror. I in turn fed her and fussed over her and before long she let me stroke her. She turned out to be an extremely affectionate purry cat and I wondered whether in fact she had been dumped a long time ago because older feral cats don't traditionally behave this way. I set up a soft bed for her which she took to with great enthusiasm. She was also a ravenous eater, she was quite confident in herself, and she groomed herself after every meal. I in turn began to use baby wipes or small towels dipped in warm water to wash the blood and dead tissue from her face and ear. I also dressed the wound with a thick vaseline-like ointment used for animals and then brushed her coat. She looked healthy and gorgeous except for the ear.

During these two months when she officially adopted us, I spoke to the vet on two occasions to prepare myself for the inevitable. I knew there would be a point when I would have to make the decision and put her to sleep – I just didn't want to do it too soon and short-change her. Felicity had a wonderful life-force about her and a strong survival instinct – she also had a vibrant spirit. The vet said that it would be time when she stopped grooming herself and when she had an odour about her.

About two weeks ago I found her sleeping in my sheep pen in the straw so I set her up in her own straw bed in a huge basin. She loved it. She had room service morning and night and when she wanted to stretch her legs and go to the toilet she just ventured out. But she was slowly declining and sleeping more and more. The day I made the decision she didn't touch her food and she slept for about 90 percent of the day.

The next day I called the vet and asked that a woman vet come out to the farm – we paid extra for the house call but we have a policy that if any of our animals need to be put to sleep then it would happen on the farm with the minimum of stress on them.

I know this is a strange thing to say but her death was one of the most beautiful and peaceful I have ever come across. She slept for the entire day and then the young vet and her offsider (also a woman) came in beside me. I woke Felicity up by stroking and combing her and she stirred out of her sleep state and began purring. I gave her a good cuddle and then just stepped away. Two minutes later the vet came to me and said it was done – she had given her a sedative first and then the anaesthesia. Felicity was still purring when she died. I cried for the next few days. She is buried close to my office.

Felicity was a tragic cat insofar as she lived in the shadows for a long time and didn't make our acquaintance till the last year of her life. But I know one thing – during the the last two months she had an exemplary quality of life full of good food, lots of affection, a warm place to sleep and lots of love. You were a great cat, Felicity, and we're going to miss you.

On another note, Hissy Fit (also pictured), one of our feral females disappeared from the colony about a month ago. I didn't know her terribly well but she's been here for a long time. When I moved back to the farm about five years ago and started looking after all the cats, I named them all. Hissy Fit stood out because firstly she would hiss if you got too close and also because she had these two vampire looking teeth. She was black with a white patch on her chest. Her temperament softened after a while when she got to know me and became part of the greater animal family on the farm. We didn't have to desex her (or another one called Diamond) because they had not had kittens for a long time.

Anyway, she disappeared and it was unlike her to go more than 200 metres radius from the cattery where she lived. I went looking for her body but couldn't find it. I don't know whether she died from old age somewhere or whether it was death by misadventure but she's gone and the place sort of feels empty without her. She had a particular kind of energy and it has vanished as she did. Rest in peace, Hissy Fit, wherever you are.

Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 18

Good news, readers. My masterplan worked and I caught Sorrento last week. 

I went into the rumpus room to feed the cats and deposited some food into the open cat cage, which I had placed on the ping pong table some weeks ago. This was her particular feeding station and the objective was to make her feel comfortable around the cage so she thought it was a harmless object. Feral cats are notoriously clever in recognising when somebody wants to catch them and usually avoid confined spaces such as cat traps and cages unless they're starving.

I just had a feeling this was going to be the day so I kept watch on her out of the corner of my eye while I did other things such as clean out the kitty litter. Sure enough she calmly walked inside the cage and I just quickly and quietly moved across the room to shut the door on her. She was completely taken by surprise. I covered the sides of the cage with a towel and then carried her to the car and strapped her into the seat beside me.

I had to take my dog into the vet at the same time to get some stitches and it took me about ten minutes to drive there. This was the first time I actually heard Sorrento meow. She had a quiet scared meow and I just talked gently to her, reassuring her that it would be all right. And indeed it was. I got her chipped, vaccinated, desexed and put on post-operative pain medication.

That night I picked her and my dog up. When I returned home, I walked into the rumpus room and slowly opened the cage door and stood back. She tottered out – still wobbly from the anaesthesia – and then she ran and hid behind some filing cabinets. I left her some food and checked again on her about two hours later. She was doing okay.

For the next few days she avoided me and gave me the evil eye if I came near her. After that she started to relax.

Yesterday I decided she was ready for the big wide world again so I let the door open to the rumpus room. It was a beautiful warm day and about ten of the farm cats were lounging in and around the base of the stairs in about a 10 metre radius. The dogs were there too. We watched Sorrento tentatively come out onto the landing and look around – sniffing the air and the area. Then she slowly came down the stairs and looked around. I let her continue in this way for about 15 minutes – the dogs' eyes and some of the other cats and mine upon her. I knew the rumpus room was her safe-place so I kept the door open, although I was conscious of the fact that I didn't want Lulu (our little blind cat) trying to get out. I slowly moved towards Sorrento to see what she would do and as predicted she turned around and ran back into the rumpus room.

A couple of hours later I repeated the same process and then again a few hours after that. Each time she expanded her territory and interacted with great excitement with some of our other cats she had not met yet. Desexed males are usually the kindest and most patient with new cats – in this case, Boston, Saffron and Snow – and of course, Sorrento's best friend Samson. I don't have a current photo of Sorrento unfortunately as the camera I usually use is on holidays with my parents – the one you're looking at is about three months old. But I can tell you she's a pretty girl.

Today I let her out again. This time there were no cats in sight and I was standing some distance away watching her. And then she called me with her meow – wanting me there to reassure her so I came to her side and she stopped meowing and came down the stairs. I then brought Aspen and Mambo (her brothers) to her side so she could relax even more. Sorrento began rolling around on the gravel, exposing her belly and being completely in the moment. I've never seen her eyes as soft as they were in those moments. Even though I haven't stroked her as yet, there seemed to be a real communication breakthrough today that really touched me. 

Tomorrow I'll leave her out for longer and let her explore the area and make some new friends.

Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 17

It's been three months since I last posted on the Xmas kittens. At that stage I was putting up flyers all over the local area for people who might have wanted to adopt our four young cats. I didn't get many enquiries – I put it down to the the state of the economy (people are less inclined to take on animals when there is a sense of impending doom and they have to watch their money carefully) and the fact that the cats were a little older than the normal kittens being put up for adoption (although the pet shop at our local mall had similar aged cats up for sale). The people who did enquire were very nice but were cat beginners and as such probably wouldn't have understood the behavioural complexities that could accompany ex-feral cats. In the end all four cats stayed and I now have about 22 cats on the farm.

Once the decision was made to keep them, I named them. The red and white male is Aspen, the black female is Lulu, the black male is Mambo, and the tortie is Sorrento. (In the near future I'll do another post on naming cats).

A couple of months ago I moved them out of the gym and into the rumpus room which is larger, has a lot more light and is warmer in the winter. Three of the cats have since become lap-cats – they are purrers and cuddlers and exceptionally curious. The two males are now allowed outdoors and they follow me around as if I were the Pied Piper of cats. They must have an explorer gene to them because they are the boldest cats I have ever seen. Ordinarily, when I begin reintroducing feral cats to the outdoors again I take them to a small fenced off territory where they can enjoy the lawn and climbing up a big fig tree and jump up on an elevated platform full of pot plants. They slowly explore the area in ever increasing circles. It usually takes about three to five days before they climb through or over the barriers into the wider area. Well, Aspen and Mambo didn't hesitate. They checked out the area and were through the gaps in the fence within about 20 minutes – making friends with the other cats, eyeing off our two dogs, strolling happily onto the verandah of the house, and following me into my office. Aspen (pictured) has even gone on a morning walk to the dam with the dogs and my sheep.Quite extraordinary.

I also had three of the four desexed. Aspen and Mambo sailed through but Lulu wasn't so lucky. When she woke up from the operation, she was blind. This is one of the reasons I haven't written for so long on this blog – I was extremely upset and pretty much maintained a vigil by her side for the first two weeks. As you can imagine, she was extremely traumatised. I'll do a separate blog post on Lulu and how I'm dealing with a blind cat. Needless to say I have not let her out of doors. 

In the meantime, Sorrento is the final cat to get desexed. She's content in the rumpus room but looks through the window to the farm sprawled out below her and I know she'd like to venture out. Feral cats are predominantly outdoor cats and I'm sure she'd like to get back to the land so to speak. I dare not let her out until she's desexed and has recuperated because I don't know whether I'll be able to catch her again and because we have a huge sexed-up stray male tabby roaming around who jumps on any females he sees. I declare outright and out loud – THERE WILL BE NO MORE KITTENS HERE ON THE FARM! THE BREEDING LINES ARE (NEARLY) CLOSED!

More pics to come in the next couple of days.